Apple’s original iPhone announcement

On January 9th, 2007, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone at the Macworld keynote address.

At the time, it was arguably a truly revolutionary product. While BlackBerry and Palm offered their own ‘smartphones’, nothing could compare to the aesthetics, features and ease of use of the iPhone.

When it was released on June 29th, 2007, the iPhone had wifi, bluetooth 2.0 and a 2-megapixel camera. The 4 GB version was priced at $499; the 8 GB version at $599. Cingular, now AT&T, was the only US carrier at that time.

The product launch was not without controversy. Apple infuriated early adopters when, on September 5th, 2007, it dropped the price of the 8 GB model to $399. It also discontinued the 4 GB model at that time. Recent purchasers were eligible for a $200 rebate. Apple eventually gave other iPhone users a $100 rebate toward Apple products.

Apple’s iPhone continues to be a success. Sales of its latest phone, the iPhone 4S, topped 4 million units in its first weekend.  Its operating system (iOS 5) is a dominant player in the mobile world as well, powering iPhones, iPads and iPods.

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